"Darren, by far, was one of the hardest-working, training and intelligent athletes I've ever been around," said Summerlin, who was Hankins' wrestling coach at Hickory.

"I got to watch him become an amazing athlete and earn accolades that I don't even know if he knew were in his reach at the time. He put himself, being so goal-oriented, in position for success. It's such a tragedy and a shock that we lose such a great individual and young man."

Summerlin was fortunate enough to accompany Hankins to Fargo, N.D., where Hankins earned All-America honors at the high school wrestling nationals during his senior year at Hickory. Summerlin was also there when Hankins first met Tech wrestling coach Kevin Dresser.

"(Hankins) was 'Mr. Humility,'" Summerlin said. "He was the guy that every day at the end of practice wanted to work on one more hold. His entire senior year, I don't think I left the wrestling room before it was getting close to 8 or 8:30, because he'd stay and work out. He always wanted to put more in."

At about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Blacksburg volunteer rescue squad personnel were dispatched to a quarry off Luster's Gate Road in Blacksburg to tend to Hankins, who had been under the water for about a minute and a half, according to a release from the rescue squad.

After arriving at the scene within minutes, responders were unable to find signs of activity on the water's surface, according to the release. Technicians from the rescue squad and the New River Valley Rescue and Recovery Association entered the water, eventually locating Hankins at the quarry bottom and bringing him to the surface.

Efforts to resuscitate Hankins were unsuccessful. The Montgomery County sheriff's office is investigating the accident. Hankins' death was confirmed Wednesday night in a release from Tech's athletic department.

"Darren Hankins was very special to our wrestling program and our entire athletic department," Dresser said in the release from Tech. "As a father and as his coach, this is something that we would hope no family would have to go through. Our hearts and prayers go out to the Hankins family at this time. Darren was a wonderful young man. Virginia Tech wrestling was a better place because of Darren Hankins."

Hankins was majoring in philosophy. He sat out last season because of an injury, but he went 14-13 in the 2012-13 season and 4-9 in the '11-12 season.

At Hickory, he was the Group AAA state runner-up at 215 pounds in his senior year. He finished fourth at the high school nationals.

"The Virginia Tech athletics family suffered a great tragedy this evening," athletic director Whit Babcock said in the release from Tech. "Darren was a wonderful representative of the wrestling team and of this university. Our hearts go out to his family, our Virginia Tech family, and his countless friends during this difficult time."

Summerlin last saw Hankins near the end of this past high school wrestling season, when Hankins returned to Hickory.

He worked out a little with the Hickory wrestlers and talked to some of the wrestlers about training and what it took to succeed at the next level. All reflections of the selfless attitude Summerlin had come to expect from Hankins.

"He was always a big brother to everybody in the room, even though he was a younger brother in his family," Summerlin said. "Just compassionate and all-around a great person, and we're all at a loss for losing a person like Darren, but he was an impactful person. I know that the athletes he trained with, the people that trained him, they're going to carry his impact with them for many, many, many, many years."

John Calipari has hair and does not chew on towels, and none of his players is likely to appear as Grandmama in a shoe company pitch. Otherwise, the parallels between Kentucky 2015 and Nevada-Las Vegas 1991 are striking.